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jmitch 
Group: Members
Posts: 1367
Joined: Feb. 2002
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Posted on: Feb. 25 2013, 5:19 pm |
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This really opens up weekend loop options of the STS.
From the STS trail club:
Attached is a description of the East Fork cross trail on the STS.
It attaches to the STS at approximately mile 74 on the west side and mile 14 on the east side.
Thus the total miles for this loop, doing the northern part of the STS clockwise, would be
Denton Hill to Mile 14 14 miles Highlight: Cherry Springs Fire Tower just off Route 44 at mile 14 of STS. Descend then to cross trail connection.
East Fork Cross Trail 8 miles
Mile 74 back to Denton Hill 10 miles Highlight: Splash Dam Trail
Total 32 miles
If one used the East Fork Cross Trail to do the southern part of the STS, there would 52 miles of STS plus the 8 mile East Fork Cross Trail for a 60 mile loop.
The southern part of the trail is definitely the most challenging, with sections like Morgan Hollow (steepest descent of STS) and the Hammersley Wild Area
(longest section without a road intersection - 10 miles), which includes the trail's best feature, the Hammersley Pool.
A third crossover trail has been proposed, for a shorter southern loop. It would connect at mile 21 on the east and 58.5 on the west.
Ole Bull State Park is at mile 26, so it would still be in the southern loop, as would Spook Hollow (mile 31), Morgan Hollow (mile 36), and the
Hammersley Pool (mile 55). With 37.5 miles of STS and perhaps only 4 miles of cross-connector trail, this southern loop would come in at about 41.5 miles.
It would be the most challenging (hills) and most interesting section of the trail.
Not sure when this might be done. Maybe this summer, but we run the risk of having more trail open than we can maintain.
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| Post Number: 2
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jmitch
Group: Members
Posts: 1367
Joined: Feb. 2002
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Posted on: Feb. 25 2013, 5:21 pm |
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West Branch Connector Trail, courtesy of the STS trail club:
Attached is the description for the West Branch Cross Trail (or connector trail) on the STS.
It joins the STS at mile 78 on the west and mile 11 on the east.
If one started at Denton Hill and went clockwise, the hike would go
Denton Hill to STS mile 11 11 miles
West Branch Crossover Trail 5.6 miles
STS mile 78 back to Denton Hill 6 miles
Total 22.6 miles -- with another 4 tenths back and forth to parking lot at Denton HIll, so we're saying 23 mile loop.
Overall this is an easy section of trail.
Starting at Denton Hill -- which is our highest elevation area -- it's almost all down hill to West Branch Road (just one hill of about .9 mile, old B&S RR hill).
There are a couple nice bridges around mile 6-7, in the Lyman Run Road area.
The old stone dynamite storage shed on Sunken Branch Rd., about mile 10, near West Branch Road, is also an interesting feature.
The crossover trail is mostly level and rather easy hiking.
Mile 78 back to Denton Hill includes the Splash Dam Trail, which is a nice section.
Then of course, there's an ascent because you have to get to the top of Denton Hill again.
All in all this is a pretty easy section. It would make what I would consider a very easy beginner's backpack trip, doing about 12 miles the first day down from Denton Hill to a camping area near the creek at the eastern end of the West Branch Crossover Trail, and another 11 miles clockwise looping back up to Denton Hill the next day.
I think this would also make a great "Spring Superhike" one-day challenge. It's not as long as the 28 mile Susquehanna Super Hike and Ultra Trail Run that KTA sponsors in September, but people are usually not quite as fit at the end of winter, so this would be a good one-day spring event.
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jmitch
Group: Members
Posts: 1367
Joined: Feb. 2002
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Posted on: Feb. 25 2013, 5:23 pm |
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Trail website:
http://www.stc-hike.org/
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| Post Number: 4
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JonW
Group: Members
Posts: 822
Joined: Jan. 2007
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Posted on: Feb. 26 2013, 9:52 am |
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I know the STS is blazed orange. Do you know the blaze color of the new side trails?
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| Post Number: 5
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jmitch
Group: Members
Posts: 1367
Joined: Feb. 2002
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Posted on: Feb. 26 2013, 12:12 pm |
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Yellow
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| Post Number: 6
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| Post Number: 7
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spindle
Group: Members
Posts: 22197
Joined: Dec. 2003
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Posted on: Feb. 26 2013, 1:12 pm |
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These sound like fun. I haven't seen this trail in too many years.
Thanks for the ideas for spring. 
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| Post Number: 8
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jmitch
Group: Members
Posts: 1367
Joined: Feb. 2002
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Posted on: Feb. 26 2013, 3:42 pm |
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We do need to check them out. Maybe the RichB hike can be up there.
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| Post Number: 9
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spindle
Group: Members
Posts: 22197
Joined: Dec. 2003
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Posted on: Feb. 26 2013, 4:02 pm |
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I think he would like that.
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| Post Number: 10
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mankind117
Group: Members
Posts: 92
Joined: Oct. 2010
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Posted on: Feb. 28 2013, 3:18 pm |
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I'm probably going be doing a long hike this april on the STS, probably using the northern most cross connector. I'll try to get a GPS track of it when I do.
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